Love and Loyalty
by Toni The Mink
Summary: Takes place after "When Two Become One"; Silver never realized how much Blaze meant to him until she became intimate with Sonic. When a sorceress offers him a chance to fix things, he must decide between his oath to serve Sol, and his love for Blaze...
1. Chapter 1

"Love and Loyalty

Written by: Toni F

Sonic and all related indica (c) SEGA, you know the drill...

* * *

**A/N: **This takes place after the events of "When Two Become One". So if you hadn't read that yet, you might wanna look over it first...

* * *

Sol Castle - Evening

The standard patrol duty. Soldiers of Sol were stationed around the castle, keeping an eye out for danger or intruders, protecting Sol Kingdom.

General Argyle was on the top watch post on the highest part of the castle. "Lemmy, what's your position, soldier?" he spoke in his communicator.

"_Clear, sir!"_ the voice on the other line responded.

"Arrie, how about you?"

"_So far, so good... WAIT!"_ the high-pitched voice squealed on the communicator, "_I thought I spotted something!"_

"What is it, soldier??" Argyle barked into his line.

"_I'm not sure! It moved too quickly...! And it was too dark! But it's heading towards the west wing of the castle!"_

"That's Silver's position," said Argyle, and spoke into the communicator again, "Silver, come in! You've got a possible intruder coming your direction! I repeat, possible intruder coming your way! Keep your eyes peeled! Do you read?"

* * *

Silver didn't read. He was too busy leaning on the ledge of the castle wing, staring into the sky, lost in daydreams...

Daydreams of a certain lavender cat.

_"Oh Silver...! They're beautiful!" Blaze took the bundle of bright, lovely flowers that Silver had modestly handed to her. "You shouldn't have!"_

_"Awww, shucks," Silver blushed and placed his hand behind his head, "It's just my way of showing you just how much you mean to me..."_

_Blaze's cheeks turned a light shade of pink and she gave off a small smile. "Oh Silver..." the smile suddenly faded, "__**You're so naive!"**_

___"Wh-wha?!" Silver felt as if everything around him had shattered._

_"How could you possibly think that I could ever like you in that manner??" Blaze scolded as she tossed the flowers over her shoulder and glared harshly at the hedgehog. "Silver..." she groaned, then turned nasty as her voice suddenly changed into that of a deeper, raspier, male's voice,_

_**"SILVER!!"**_

"What-HUH?!" Silver was snapped back to reality at the sound of General Argyle's voice on his communicator. He quickly snagged it with his mind and telekinetically brought it over. "Yes!" he called as soon as he grabbed, "I'm here! What is it, sir??"

"_Where were you??"_

"S... sorry, sir, I was... investigating something."

"_Keep your communicator with you at all times!"_ Argyle's voice angrily blasted through the other end, _"Now listen! Arrie spotted something dark and quick heading towards your post. Keep a careful lookout in your area. If you see anything suspicious, alert me immediately!"_

Silver scanned the ground over the castle wall, around his area. It looked untouched. Clearly there was nothing here or nearby...

Wait a minute...

Slowly, he turned around to face the interior of the courtyard... and sure enough, there was a shadowy figure past the castle walls, and making its way towards the palace. "Oh just my damn luck!" Silver cursed out loud before raising the communicator to his mouth, "General Argyle! It got past me! It's heading towards Sol Castle! I'm in pursuit!"

Before he could hear Argyle's answer, Silver set aside the communicator and leaped off the wing, landing on the ground and using his telekinetic powers to give chase. "HOLD IT!" he shouted as he began gaining on the intruder, "You're trespassing on royal Sol property! Stop where you are, or I'll attack!"

The figure began to slow down and turned to face the hedgehog as he levitated his way closer. He landed back on his feet and held up his hands. "This is your final warning! Leave immediately!"

The figure, tall, skinny, and wearing what looked like a flowing dress, held up its arm and a purple energy emitted from its palm, shooting it at Silver like a bullet. He quickly diverted the blast with his mind, and countered with a psychic blast at the stranger. It however easily slid to the side, missed by a mile. Seeing he was up against a formidable foe, Silver gathered his energy, and shot forward at the enemy, ready for a full-out attack.

A low chuckled emitted into the air. The opponent appeared to be laughing at him, which only fueled the hedgehog's anger. He pulled his fist back and prepared to strike a powerful punch, but before anything could hit, the figure stepped back. Silver missed him by just a few inches. He felt a small, cool hand press against his chest... and a purple energy orb blasted against him, knocking him across the courtyard, and slamming hard into the wall. He slumped to the ground in pain, and slept out of consciousness.

* * *

"Silver! Wake up, soldier!"

Slowly, the silver-furred hedgehog opened his eyes. He was laying flat on the ground, facing up as many other soldiers were gathered around him, worried.

"You okay, soldier?" asked Argyle.

Silver slowly pushed himself upwards in a sitting position, as other guards supported his shoulders. He rubbed the back of his head, "Yeah... just a bump..."

Arglye gave a small smile. "Good to hear..." Within a second, his smile turned to a deep scowl, "What in the world were you up to?!" he shouted, "First you don't respond to my call, slacking off and allowing an intruder to get past our defense, and you go as far as to disobey my orders NOT to pursuit!!"

"You said that...?"

"If you'd only keep your communicator close by, you would have heard me call for back-up!!"

Silver lowered his head. "Sorry, sir..."

Ignoring the apology, Argyle stood back to his feet. "Listen up, soldiers!" he ordered, "We've got a new problem at hand. There's an intruder INSIDE Sol's perimeter. We know that it's strong enough to take out one of our own soldiers, so we need to be on high alert! Lemmy and Arrie, you take the exterior entrances. Glave, you're in charge of the west wing, and take several soldiers with you. I'll cover the east wing. And you--" He glared over at Silver, "You just patrol the main hall. Make sure nothing gets past you this time. See if you can manage not to mess _this_ assignment up."

Silver narrowed his eyes. But he dared not speak out of line. "Yes sir..."

--

--

**A/N:** Hahah! It didn't take long before I went and started the next story, huh??

Well THIS one was in the planning for over a year now... but I kinda needed to plan out the "Two Worlds..." one first for things to make sense. :P But watch while THIS one is crap compared to the one I had to quickly whip up in less than a month so I can get to fics I really wanted to get into. XD

Silver's the star this time. Despite the fact I NEVER played a single game that had him as a playable character. I had to guess his character based off what I've seen on YouTube.

Sorry the first chapter's short. They'll get longer as they come out, I promise.


	2. Chapter 2

Silver walked through the Main Hall of Sol Castle, and made his way into the hallways. He was suppose to be keeping an eye out for a suspicious intruder...

But his mind was heavily distracted. How could he possibly do his job when he had a crisis going on in his heart?

He stared up at all the pictures that hung in the hall. Many of them were of Blaze's ancestors, the former kings and queens. He came upon a familiar scene... the previous King and Queen of Sol, a family portrait with them and their young daughter, sitting on her mother's lap.

Those were the good times... back when they were children. Blaze was considered somewhat of an outcast, being the princess and accidentally igniting a flame now and then, which frightened other children away... but Silver, being the accepting soul he was, befriended the kitten and the two became nearly inseparable. Silver was given the privilege of visiting Sol Castle any time of day, any day of the week, just to play with Blaze, and other days she would leave the royal perimeters to walk down to his house for a visit. They ran with each other, they told secrets, they laughed, they explored, and sometimes they even just laid around in the garden in the castle's courtyard.

Then tragedy struck... An enemy attacked. The king was murdered, while the queen put up a good fight and defeated the opposing force, only to later die from her injuries. Sol needed a new leader, and Blaze was taken away from Silver. He could no longer drop by Sol Castle whenever he wanted, and rarely did she get a chance to go out and spend time with her friends. More often than not she was training for the throne, to control her powers, and to be a guardian of the Sol Emeralds.

Silver never forgot Blaze. As he grew older, he learned the importance of Blaze's job as princess and why she never was around anymore. He didn't want her to go at it alone. Even though he was only twelve at the time, he enlisted to become a soldier. Argyle and the other sergeants didn't take the boy seriously at first, but Blaze managed to convince them to allow him through.

The boy made incredible progress in a short amount of time, and was dubbed a soldier a year later. He was able to work with Blaze, do things for her...

But it was never the same. Blaze didn't seem to appreciate him as she did when they were children. If a task needed to be done, she simply asked him to do it. He did his best to bend over backwards for the feline princess, anything to make her happy. But she never appeared to notice, as she always wanted to do things on her own. She had become seriously loyal to her duty, raised to be independent and to take the whole world in her hands. That's why whenever he offered to take her out on a walk around the garden like old times, she always declined.

"I have no time to dilly-dally, Silver," she told him, "I have to guard the emeralds."

"Can't you just get Gardon to look after them for a moment while you take a breather?" he said, "C'mon, for old time's sake!"

Blaze only shook her head. "You're so naive, Silver... Those days are over."

Naive... That was just a nice way of her to call him dumb, worthless. That no matter what he did, it never amounted to anything in her eyes.

If only she would take it easy now and then...

No... that's not true. Actually, as of late, she _was_ beginning to be more open about her feelings, becoming more laid back. Ever since...

Speak of the devil, there she was! Silver had walked past an open doorway, leading into a big den. He backed up slightly to look in. In the center on a pink couch, in front of a cozy fire, lost in a book was none other than...

"Blaze..."

The cat looked up. Did she hear him? She turned around on the couch, facing his direction, and smiled. Was she actually _smiling_ at him??

"What a lovely surprise!" she spoke.

She was happy to see him?? Silver was ecstatic. He couldn't believe Blaze was showing affection to him. It was almost like old times! He took a step forward to return the greeting...

And quickly stepped back as a blue hedgehog jogged by, holding two mugs filled with hot cocoa, and made his way to the couch. He handed her a mug then plopped himself next to the cat as she snuggled into his side. "Sonic, you're too sweet."

Embarrassed, as well as crushed, Silver backed away and slunk down the hallway, head hung low, his hand softly scrapping against the wall.

He had to get some air, away from this scene. So he found the nearest door, taking him outside right to the garden, where he and Blaze used to play when they were younger.

Sonic the Hedgehog...

It was all because of him. Ever since their worlds merged into one, he always began hanging around Sol and spending all his time with Blaze. Blaze was finally beginning to change, all because of him. Silver had tried for many years to get Blaze to open up, to accept other people's help... and along comes Blue Hedgehog and does it in one night.

And worst yet... Blaze had become very close to him...

While everyone in the Main Hall that day applauded loudly for the two sharing their first kiss together, he had to be the only one there standing there in disbelief, feeling jealousy, heartbreak, the cold reality that struck him like a brick wall. It wasn't until then that Silver realized just how much Blaze meant to him. How much he longed for her, how he wished he was sitting on that couch right now, and hell even spending the night in her bedroom from time to time doing God knows what?

If only he knew earlier... if only he acted first...

If only... she'd notice him...

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Silver whipped around at the sound of the strange, unfamiliar voice. He held out his palms, ready for a psychic attack if needed. "Who're you??"

"No need to get so defensive," the woman responded, "My name is Juilana."

Silver stared hard at the stranger. She was a tall human with long, black hair, narrow eyes, and wore a flowing robe which looked like a dress all bundled up by her legs. She looked familiar to the hedgehog, and it finally hit him, "You're the intruder that got past me earlier!!"

Juilana gave an apologetic smile and raised her hands. "I'm sorry. Did I inconvenience you with that?" she mused.

Silver didn't drop his defense. "What do you want??"

"I could ask the same of you," the woman responded, gazing into Silver's yellow eyes, "You're eyes are full of lust. You're longing for something... or _someone."_

The silver-colored hedgehog grit his teeth, slightly embarrassed. "What's it to you??"

"Darling, I'm quite the sorceress," Juilana responded, "I can practically read your mind! But I'm no telekinetic like yourself. In fact, I'm lacking in a lot of areas. All I want is to strengthen my powers and become an even stronger sorceress." She grinned at the soldier, "If you help me, I can help you..."

Silver stared back up at her. There was something in the air that gave the sense of mistrust. But nevertheless... he was curious about what she could do for him. After a moment, he finally dropped his hands. "...What do you want me to do?"

"To be honest, I only got _this_ far because of a slight fluke," Juilana explained. Silver's ears went pink, as she continued. "But I couldn't possibly get _inside_, what with all these soldiers on patrol. But _you_... You can get in anywhere, since you're a soldier yourself. All I need you to do is go in and get me the Jeweled Scepter."

"What??" Silver cried, shaking his head, "No, I can't do that to Blaze!"

Juilana rolled her eyes. "So you're happy with the way things are now? You choose to serve the princess... with _nothing_ in return?"

Silver was silent. She got him there...

"I know you're in love with her," the sorceress continued, "_Despite_ the fact that she longs for another." She seductively ran her hand through the hedgehog's hairstyle, "I can fulfill your heart's desire, _if_ you do me this one task."

Silver narrowed his eyes. "How does getting you the scepter help me with Blaze?"

"You just leave that to me," said Juilana, "All you need to worry about is how far you're willing to go for love." She smirked, "Can you live with the idea of your one and only with some other guy? What other way can you possibly get her?"

Silver stopped to think for a moment. There _was_ one possible way...

But it was like Juilana really could read his mind. She simply shrugged and looked away. "Well, I mean you _could_ just walk up to her and tell her flat out that you love her, and she should just drop that blue meatball." She gave a short laugh, "It's so simple! Goodness, you're just wasting time with me! Go on, I'll just leave you alone." She stepped forward to walk away.

"No..."

Juilana stopped, and turned back to face Silver, who was staring down at the ground in hopelessness. "She wouldn't take me seriously..." he murmured, "She'd just call me naive like she always does..."

The woman smirked. "Well in that case, there's only one other way." She stared down at him. "Give me the scepter, and I'll take care of everything."

Silver looked away, still indecisive. "...I..."

**_-BREEP- -BREEP-_**

_"Silver! Come in this instant, soldier!!"_

Juilana narrowed her eyes and took a step back. Silver picked up his communicator. "Yes, general..?"

_"What do you think you're doing away from your post, soldier?!"_ Argyle's angry voice roared from the other side, "_Where are you??"_

"I'm outside," Silver responded.

"_What are you doing out there?! It better be important!!"_

"I..." Silver glanced up at Juilana, hidden in the shadows of the oak tree, staring back, expecting Silver to announce the intruder. Silver twitched his nose. "I just needed some fresh air, that's all..."

_"Well... When you're finished getting your fresh air, report to my quarters IMMEDIATELY! Argyle out!!"_

Silver groaned as he put his God-forsakened communicator away. Juilana stepped from the shadows and approached the hedgehog. "Putting your job at risk..." she swooned, "Does that mean you want to help me?"

"It means I'd rather help you than serve under _that_ guy," Silver responded.

The sorceress smirked once again. "How sweet. I will reward you handsomely, I promise. Right now, it clearly isn't wise for me to stay around." She waved her fingers, and a green globe of energy appeared in front of the two. "See this map? Right here is where we're currently located," she pointed to a white speck, "And over here on the far left are the mountains... where my hidden lair is. Once you grow tired of taking orders from General Jerk, drop by with the scepter anytime." She snuffed out the globe and disappeared into the shadows. "I'll be waiting, Silver..."

Silver watched as she disappeared. Well that took care of the intruder issue...

But now onto something even worse...


	3. Chapter 3

"You wanted to see me, General?" Silver asked as he poked his head through the door.

The large lion-dog sat at his desk, his hands folded in front of his mouth in a contemplating manner as he stared coldly back at the hedgehog. "Sit down, soldier," he nodded to an empty seat in front of his desk, to which Silver quickly approached and sat down.

Argyle rose from his desk and began to pace around the soldier. "You aren't keeping up to par, Silver," he scolded, "Lately you've been slacking off, zoning out, and not even listening to orders! You're lucky that Princess Blaze didn't find out about the intruder incident. Whatever hell she would have given me, I would've given you _ten times _worse!"

Silver lowered his head as he listened to the general's lecture while pacing up and down. "I know you're an old friend of hers, but that doesn't mean you receive special treatment! It's bad enough you were let into training at the tender age of twelve. Even now I don't believe you're mature enough..."

Offended, Silver couldn't help snapping his head up at Argyle. The general had his back turned, not even facing him as he lectured. Silver rolled his eyes... and upon doing so, noticing something on Argyle's belt. A small, rectangular-shaped yellow card... The Access Key! General Argyle had the key to get into any part of Sol Castle... including the safe hold, where all of Sol's Sacred Treasures were held for safe keeping. If he could grab that card, he could sneak down to where the Jeweled Scepter was and...

No, wait! What was he thinking?? He wasn't going to go that far! Blaze would only get upset if he stole something of hers...

"...and frankly, you're only here because Blaze allowed it. I don't know what she sees in you, but I see someone who needs to get their act together! She was forced to mature up. You could learn from her..."

Blaze never took him seriously anyway... He would have to prove himself. The card was in arm's length! All he had to do was reach over, snag it, and pocket it before the general could look.

Slowly, Silver leaned forward and raised his hand up, just inches away from detaching the card from Argyle's belt...

And Argyle turned around. Silver quickly snapped back into place, hoping that he didn't notice. Argyle stopped talking and stared down at Silver suspiciously before leaning down and getting into his face. "Soldier..." he grunted, "Were you just _mocking_ me?"

"Mocking??" coughed Silver, "Uh, no sir! Not at all!"

Argyle stood straight and turned away again, this time pacing to the other side of the room. "I should hope not. You should learn how to respect your superiors. I would never dream in a hundred years of displaying any insult to my higher ranks. In fact, when I was your age, I could only _dream_ about joining the royal guards. You should consider yourself lucky getting this privilege..."

Argyle went on and on, his back turned against Silver once more, but only this time he was on the other side of the room. Silver could never reach the card now...

... Wait, yes he could!

He slowly raised his arm up again, and his palm emitted a soft, greenish-blue glow as he telekinetically began to detach the card from Argyle's belt. Once it was free, the hedgehog quickly brought it over to him, snatched it in mid-air, and stuffed it in the cuff of his boot before Argyle could finish his speech and turn around. He looked down at Silver, who innocently stared back. Argyle frowned. "Are we clear, soldier?"

Silver bowed his head. "Clear, sir..."

The general pointed harshly at the door. "Dismissed!"

Silver got up and exited the room. He made sure the door was shut tight after he left before growing a disgusted face. Man did he hate that guy! He looked down to his right boot, where the card was hidden. He actually had the Access Key... he was actually going through with this...

* * *

Juilana was right about one thing. Being a soldier allowed him access at any wing, no matter how well guarded. Two buddies simply allowed him through deep down towards the safe hold, where the Sacred Treasures were kept, including the Jeweled Scepter and at one time the Sol Emeralds. Now it was only one Chaos Sol, as the other six were not yet found.

In front of the steel-bound door stood Gardon, a musket in one arm, staring straight ahead with a serious face. Nothing was getting past him...

He jumped at the sound of footsteps approaching. "Who's there??" he cried, raising his musket.

"Relax, it's me," spoke Silver as he approached the startled koala bear.

Gardon lowered the musket. "Oh... Mister Silver," he breathed a sigh of relief, "You frightened me. What brings you down here?"

"I... I came to tell you..." Silver responded rather hesitantly, still unsure if he wanted to go through with all this, "The general... He wants to speak with you."

"General Argyle??" cried Gardon, his serious look replaced with pure worry, "Oh dear! What could he possibly want with me??"

"I don't know," said Silver, "I was only sent to inform you and take over watching the safehold."

"Th... thank you, Mister Silver..." Gardon began twitching as he walked off, twiddling his fingers, mumbling to himself, "Oh dear... oh my... this is bad..."

Silver waited until Gardon left around the corner and all the way up the steps to the upper level before double-checking if the cost was clear. He then turned around, pulled the card out of his boot, and slid it through the card reader. The reader beeped, accepting the card, and the steel doors opened.

This was too easy...

* * *

"Come in," General Argyle called towards the knocking door. It creeked open and a nervous koala bear's head peeked in.

"Y... yes, sir?" spoke Gardon softly.

Argyle glanced up. "Yes what?"

Gardon let himself in and walked towards the desk, playing with his fingers nervously. "To... to what do I owe this meeting, sir?"

Argyle raised an eyebrow. "You tell me, soldier. Why aren't you guarding the safe hold like I ordered?"

Gardon removed his hat and wiped away some sweat. "Sir, I came as soon as I was told that you wanted to see me!"

"I didn't ask to see you," Argyle responded, eyeing Gardon suspiciously, "What's this all about?"

"You didn't?? But Silver told me that you wanted to see me in your office!"

Argyle's eyes widened. "Silver?! Now why would he tell you that?? Unless..."

* * *

There it was... up the steps on a high pedestal was the sacred Jeweled Scepter. Silver approached it. All he had to do was take it and use the Chaos Sol to Chaos Control outside the kingdom. No one would ever know he had stolen it.

Wait... did he just think that? Was he really going to turn his back on Sol Kingdom and steal one of its sacred treasures? He came this far, he may as well finish...

No! He couldn't betray Blaze...

... not that she cared about him anyway.

No one else knows of the plan. He could still back out. Juilana wasn't stupid enough to try and break through the castle perimeters just to hunt him down. There had to be another way...

_"Silver!! Come in this instant, soldier!!"_

Silver jumped at the sudden shrill voice coming from his communicator. "_What's this all about, soldier??_" Argyle screamed at him, "_Where do you get off giving false orders from me?! Where are you?! Answer me this instant! If you don't respond within 10 seconds, I'm gonna boot you back to Boot Camp! __**Come in!! **__If anything happens to any of the sacred treasures--"_

"SHUT UP!" Silver snatched his communicator and threw it to the ground, smashing it into several broken pieces. That did it. He wasn't going to answer to that asshole anymore. He marched up to the scepter and snagged it right off its stand.

He was suddenly lost in his thoughts, in the power that radiated from the scepter. What power... it was more than just a magic staff. It really felt like the key to potential. With this, he could definitely fix things and make Blaze his once and for all...

He was so wrapped into the power of the scepter that he was oblivious to the blaring alarms.

* * *

"Attention soldiers! All hands on deck!" Argyle shouted into his communicator, as the alarms rang throughout the entire castle, "We have a code 50! Get to the underground safe hold stat! I repeat, code 50!"

He and Gardon raced down towards the safe hold, many soldiers and guards meeting up with them. Once they were down at the vault, Argyle was surprised to see Blaze and Sonic approaching the safe hold themselves. "Princess! What're you doing here?"

"You think I_ wouldn't _investigate a code 50 at the safe hold??" the cat responded.

"What's a code 50?" asked Sonic.

Argyle looked slightly panicked, always unnerved around Blaze in emergencies. "It means... there's a traitor among us."

"Open the safe!" Blaze ordered. Argyle fished at his belt for the Access Key... only to find nothing.

"It... it's not here! But how...?" Realization struck Argyle, "He nicked it from me!! That little rat!"

"Does anybody have an Access Card??" Gardon called among the guards, who searched desperately.

"Never mind!" shouted Blaze, "Stand aside!" She approached the door and give it a strong, firey kick, knocking the steel doors straight off its hinges. She raced inside, followed by Sonic, Argyle, Gardon, and several other soldiers. "Hold it!!" she shouted to the figure up on the pedestal, holding the Jeweled Scepter in its hands, "Stop where you are! Show yourself, traitor!!"

The figure looked up, having heard the voice, and slowly turned around to face the princess. Blaze's face switched from fury to horror upon seeing the face of the traitor. "Silver...?!"


	4. Chapter 4

There she was... the whole reason behind his actions, his betrayal... and to think he was doing all of this _for _her_._

"Sorry about this, Blaze," said Silver, "But this is the only way..."

"What are you talking about?" Blaze cried, "What's gotten into you??"

Silver slowly scowled, "Then again, you never really did understand me..."

Blaze was at loss for words and almost at the verge of tears. Argyle took the opportunity to step in, pointing a fierce finger towards the silver hedgehog. "Alright, listen here soldier!!" he shouted, "You'd best better give it up now while you're ahead! As we speak, you're already in for the biggest court martial in history!!"

Silver narrowed his eyes at his official. "Well, since I have nothing to lose..." he sneered, raising the Jeweled Scepter into the air, "I've been wanting to do this to you for a _long_ time, General!!" He pointed the scepter at Argyle as his psychic power radiated from his body. Suddenly, a powerful psychic blast shot from the scepter and struck Argyle, knocking the giant dog-lion effortlessly off his feet and smashed into the wall. Gardon and the rest of the soldiers rushed to the general's side to check on him.

Silver was frozen in awe. Did _he_ just emit that kind of power? He stared into the scepter. "I can see why they call the Jeweled Scepter 'the key'," he uttered, "It can unlock all kinds of potential!"

"Silver! Stop! Please!!"

Silver glanced back down to see Blaze at the bottom of the steps in a pleading manner. "I bet you never expected me to do something this drastic, did you Blaze?" he gave a small smirk, "I'm a lot stronger than you give me credit for! _Who's the naive one now?!"_ As he shouted, he slammed the bottom of the scepter into the ground, which inadvertently sent out a massive shock wave energy towards Blaze below, too stunned to move. Luckily, Sonic was quick enough to zip in, scoop up Blaze, and jump away in time before the attack hit. Silver rushed over to the edge of the pedestal and looked down to check on Blaze. He certainly did not intend to bring any harm to her. But the only sight he was given was of Sonic bringing Blaze to safety in his arms... and his fury burned even harder.

"Are you okay?" Sonic asked as he placed Blaze back on her feet

The cat was still visibly shaken, staring straight ahead into nothingness, in heartache. "Why...? Why is he doing this?"

Sonic looked back up at the pedestal where Silver stood, glaring right back down at him. "Why don't I find out for you?" he responded as he took off up the steps of the pedestal. Silver saw him coming and aimed the scepter at him, ready for another shot, but lost the target as Sonic suddenly leaped into the air and went into a spin, shooting towards him with a homing attack. Silver quickly raised his palm up, mentally catching Sonic and throwing him backwards down the steps. Silver looked over to check; Sonic was laying face down on the steps, perfectly still. Apparently, he was out cold, but he'd better make sure. He made his way down the steps towards the blue hedgehog. As he leaned closer...

_**BAM!**_

Sonic, having played possum, suddenly went into a spin just as Silver got close, knocking the telekinesis into the air and landing back on the platform, flat on his back. He slowly sat back up, his back now aching, just as Sonic was climbing the steps. "What's the matter, Silver?" he snided, "Got tired of being the shy, quiet type? Wanted to try the bad-boy routine?"

"Shut up!!" Silver shouted, scrambling to his feet, "YOU'RE the cause of all this, you know!"

Sonic cocked an eyebrow. "What?? What did _I_ do? We've barely even spoken to each other before."

"You just don't get it, do you?" Silver growled, "Ever since you came around, you changed everything! It's all messed up because of _you!!_ Now I'm going to fix it!!" At that, he flung one psychic blast over another at the blue hedgehog. Sonic rushed around, nearly escaping each blast which struck the walls around him.

"Silver, knock it off!" he yelled over, "You're gonna cave in the whole vault!!

Too late. Silver had shot more rounds at Sonic, causing the walls to crumble down around the the blue hedgehog, no where to escape. Blaze gasped in horror at the sight of her beloved possibly crushed underneath the concrete rubble, as Silver merely smirked in satisfaction. That took care of one mess...

His eyes suddenly grew wide. Out of the cloud of dust and debris came a silhouette, which was replaced by Sonic as he walked through. His face was dark and grim, and he cracked his knuckles loudly. "All right, that does it," he growled, "You wanna play hard? Then let's go!!"

Like a bullet, Sonic lunged at Silver who didn't have a second to defend himself, and began throwing punch after punch at his face. Silver did what he could to block the punches, but the speedy hedgehog was apparently quick with his fists as he was with his feet. Tired of receiving blows to the face, Silver raised the scepter up and slammed it across Sonic's head, managing to knock him off.

"Cheap shot..." Sonic grumbled, rubbing his head as he got back to his feet. He looked up to see Silver right across from him, scepter in hand, ready for another attack. Before giving him that chance, Sonic was off, racing at a high-speed circle around the silver-colored hedgehog. The soldier of Sol could barely keep up with the blue blur. And he was not amused either.

"Is this all you've got?" he sneered, "Simple mind tricks?? Running all around me isn't gonna help you! It's gonna HURT YOU!" As he shouted, he swung the scepter at one of the many Sonic-after-images, hopefully to stop the hedgehog in his place, but he only managed to hit thin air. "Wha-?!"

He didn't even turn around a whole inch before Sonic landed a swift, powerful kick straight into his chin, sending him into the air, hitting the ceiling, and falling to the ground flat on his back, the Jeweled Scepter landing about a foot away from him.

Silver slowly turned himself over to his stomach, trying to push himself upright. "Give it up, Silver," Sonic's voice rang out. Silver glared up to see the blue hedgehog approach him. No... he won't lose to him! Not again... He looked away, his eyes scanning for the scepter.

"Just come in quietly," Sonic continued, "And I'm sure we can work this all out peacefully." As he came closer, he noticed Silver was facing the other way... and his hand was outstretched. He glanced up and saw the Jeweled Scepter covered with a blue-green glow and coming closer to the gray hedgehog. He jumped forward to try and stop him, but as he got next to him--

**BAM!**

Too late. Silver had twisted around and shoved the end of the scepter into Sonic's gut before he could stop him. Sonic coughed and staggered backwards as Silver climbed back to his feet, pointing the scepter at him as it began to glow brightly. Sonic was covered with a green energy, and before he could do anything, he was suddenly shot backwards, crashing head first into the wall above the vault entrance. He fell forward and landed hard on the ground, out cold for real.

"_Sonic!!" _Blaze cried.

Silver chuckled lowly. "You call yourself the world's greatest hero?" he spat, "_FEH!_ Pathetic..." He turned away and took a few steps. "There's only one thing left to do..."

From behind, he suddenly felt an increase of heat on his backside. He turned around in time to see a blast of fire shooting straight at him. He jumped to the side and telekinetically pushed the wall of fire away from him, then looked over to the source of the flames. "Blaze??"

The cat princess stood across from him, her arm extended, her palm faced out, and her eyes filled with hurt. "You know how I feel against treason, Silver," she murmured, "In fact, you know me better than anyone else does!" Blaze bit her lip as her eyes slowly began to well up, "How can you betray me like this?"

"Blaze, don't you know?" said Silver, "I'm doing this all for you!"

"What makes you think stealing the Jeweled Scepter would do me any good?!"

Silver took the long scepter into both hands as he explained. "I'm going to make things the way they were, _before_ Sonic entered the picture! Then you and me can be together again!"

Blaze glared at the hedgehog, then glanced down at the sceptor he was holding. "Silver, just give me the scepter. I'm sure we can work out whatever is bothering you."

"Stay back!!" Silver snapped, taking a step backwards and holding out his palm, "I won't let you stop me! I made it this far! I can do this! I can fix everything!!"

"Silver, listen to me!" Blaze shouted, "You don't know just how powerful the Jeweled Sceptor is! It's overpowering your mind! You're not thinking straight!"

"You never had faith in me," Silver sneered, "You always looked down on me like a child. You ignored me, passed me over constantly..." He held the scepter into the air, "But now I have the chance to change it all!"

"I don't know what's gotten into you," Blaze ignited a fireball in her hand, "But I'm afraid I'm going to put a stop on your plan!" She hurled the fireball at her old friend, who was only too prepared for it and used the scepter to bat it back at her. She quickly cartwheeled out of the way as it blasted into the wall.

"Don't get in my way, Blaze," Silver called over, "I don't want to hurt you."

"Then stop all this!" the cat cried.

Silver squeezed his eyes shut and grit his teeth. "I can't do that!"

"Why not??"

"You just wouldn't get it!!"

"Silver, don't be so naive!"

The hedgehog snarled. "SHUT UP!!" he screamed as he threw a psychic wave at Blaze, who leaped away and raced sideways up the wall towards where Silver stood. She bounced off and aimed a kick at his head, but he managed to avoid the hit by spinning out of the way and coming back, swiping the scepter at her. Blaze ducked each swipe Silver threw at her, and thew in some punches and kicks at him. Silver managed to keep up with her, throwing in physical attacks of his own, deranged with power. He then raised the scepter up again and slammed it down towards her head, only to have her catch it in time. The two wrestled for a moment, each pushing forward on the scepter to knock the other one down, neither one backing off.

A blue aura formed around Silver's hands and suddenly, Blaze was thrown backwards across the pedestal, near the steps. She looked up to see Silver march towards her, scepter in hand, ready for another hit. Before she could give him that chance, she lit her palms and threw them forward, smacking a laser of fire into the hedgehog's chest, and snuffing the flames out as he fell back on the ground, yelling in pain from the burns.

Blaze got back to her feet and slowly approached Silver, who was sprawled on his back, breathing heavily, rubbing his chest where his burn wounds were seeping in. "I'm sorry, Silver..."

Silver opened his eyes and glared back at the cat. "No, Blaze... _I'm_ sorry!" Suddenly, his arm jolted in the air, holding onto the Jeweled Scepter, and had it aimed on Blaze, who was suddenly engulfed in a deep blue, frigid energy. Blaze was literally frozen in her tracks as she felt intense cold cover her entire body.

"S... so cold...!" she gasped as she slowly began sinking to her knees, "My flame... it's being... extinguished...!" She fell to her stomach as Silver climbed back up to his feet, continuing to aim the scepter at Blaze. As she laid on her belly, she weakly glanced back up at the silver-colored hedgehog and raised her hand shakily towards him. "Sil...ver... _please...!"_ The arm fell as Blaze slipped out of consciousness.

The sight of his friend in such a state had seemed to set Silver straight for a moment, as he suddenly grew worried. "Blaze..?" he took a step forward while taking the scepter into both hands, and stopped. The power of the scepter flowed full force through his body once again, and he then smirked in satisfaction. "Just how I want you..."

Meanwhile, down below, Sonic was just waking back up, rubbing his aching head, trying to remember what exactly happened. He glanced up the pedestal where Silver stood... and was lifting Blaze into his arms and walking off. Sonic then finally remembered what was going on. "Silver!!" he shouted, jumping back to his feet and getting the other hedgehog's attention. "Put her down!! _**Now!"**_

Silver only gave a menacing grin in response. "Try to stop me," he snided as he held up a gray Chaos Sol.

Sonic could only imagine what he was planning and wasted no time to race after him.

"_Chaos Control!!"_

A bright, flashing light surrounded Silver and Blaze, and Sonic did a dive to try and catch him... only to miss by just a few inches, and he went crashing on his tummy. He snapped his head back up; the area around him was empty. Silver was gone...

... and so was Blaze.

"No!!" Sonic cried out, slamming his fist into the ground. He growled in frustration, trying to make sense of the whole situation, but coming up with nothing. "Silver... just what are you to up??"

* * *

**A/N: **This is actually as far as I got in my outline. And since I'll be away for the weekend, it's gonna be a long while before the next part is up. Sorry. ;


	5. Chapter 5

Juilana's head lifted up as she felt a sort of chaotic energy nearby, just outside her study, where she was looking over her plans. Followed by a familiar presence. "Is that you, Silver?" she called out. She wasn't aware that he knew how to teleport, but it didn't matter. Soon she will be able to do what he does, and so much more.

"Yea, it's me..."

The sorceress grinned and put away her plans as she rose from her seat. "Ah, welcome to my lair," she announced, "I trust you're here in regards of our little deal?"

There was a short pause before he answered. "Yes... I have the Jeweled Scepter."

"Wonderful!" Juilana exclaimed as she left her study to meet Silver, "Now we can move onto phase two..."

She ended up getting the surprise of her life when she met the hedgehog in the center of her, lair holding a long stick in his hand and an out cold lavender cat in his arms. "Well _hello__ there!!_" she chimed as she came upon this sight, "You not only brought me the scepter, but you also brought me the princess!" She gave a menacing grin, "Forget step two!" she said as she came forward to take Blaze, "You just made my job a lot easier!"

Before she could take her, however, Silver immediately stepped away, shielding the cat from the woman. "Stay back!" he spat. He extended the hand that held the staff. "You can have the scepter, but keep your grimy hands off Blaze!"

Juilana gave a hard look at the hedgehog. "Very well," she huffed, "Have it your way. But you _are_ going to hand her over sooner or later in order for me to hold up _my_ end of the bargain." She reached over and took the scepter from Silver, taking a moment to breathe in its power. She could already feel the energy flow through her body. "Yes...!" she purred to herself, "I can feel it. So much strength, so much power... It's all mine to control!"

"What about Blaze?" Silver grabbed her attention, "I got you the stupid scepter. How exactly do you plan to keep _your_ promise?"

Something was telling him that he should've asked this _before_ he went along with this whole scheme.

"I wish I could simply just 'zap' her and _poof_, she likes you more than that blue speedster," Juilana replied, tapping the end of the scepter in her other hand, "But I'm afraid it isn't that easy. For her to fall in love with you, I will have to erase her memory..." She smirked devilishly, "_All_ of it!"

Silver's eyed nearly bulged. "What?!"

"That way, she'll forget her current beau, AND all the other reasons why she decided not to give you a fair shot. Then all you have to do is build a new memory for her, 'remind' her of your 'longtime romance', and she's all yours!"

Silver looked to the ground. "But... she won't remember anything! Her friends, her family... not even being the princess!" He glared back up at the sorceress. "We can't do this!"

Juilana simply shrugged. "Well, if you change your mind, that's fine and dandy..." She turned away, "But I'm slightly curious at what will happen to you when she wakes up and remembers _everything_ you just did?" She let loose a chuckle, "_That's_ a lovely way to make her love you! HAH!"

Silver was quiet for a moment, torn, and finally looked back to the ground in defeat. "I guess you're right," he muttered, "But what about Sol?" He glared back up at the woman, "What'll happen to it if Blaze doesn't remember her heritage?"

"Don't you worry about Sol, dear," Juilana wickedly grinned, "I'll take good care of it."

"_You?!__"_ snarled Silver.

"Don't you see?" said the sorceress, "Without its rightful ruler, Sol is practically up for grabs! And what better queen is there than the now-most powerful sorceress on the planet?" She gripped the Jeweled Scepter in both hands, "Hell, now with my strength increased a thousand-fold, I may as well go for every other kingdom, city, and civilization on Mobius!"

Silver was finally beginning to get the plot, and he ferociously grimaced. "You...! You were just using me!!" he shouted, "I'm just some tool to help you steal the throne! I can't let you do this!!"

Juilana glared over at the hedgehog. "I don't see what you're so upset about," she hissed, "This benefits you too. Seeing as you're most likely banished from Sol now, all you have to do is keep Blaze away, and it's a happy ever after for you both."

"Yea..." Silver glanced away in shame, "But not like this...!"

"What other choice do you have?" Juilana boomed, "Other than have Blaze only _not_ love you, but completely hate your guts for what you've done, hm?"

Silver squeezed his eyes shut. She was right... he was in too deep to escape now.

And he didn't want to lose Blaze...

...

...

"... okay, fine. Let's get this over with..."

"Atta' boy! That's the spirit!" Juilana raised the Jeweled Scepter into the air, summoning Blaze's body to lift from Silver's arms, and she guided it over to a high platform, where she laid the cat princess down on a stone bed. She then used the scepter to levitate herself up to the platform. "Just do me one last favor and keep watch," she ordered, "We wouldn't want anybody to stumble in and ruin our perfectly laid out plans, now do we?"

"Very well..." Silver answered, though his heart wasn't fully into it.

He was starting to have his doubts about all this.

* * *

Deep within the canyons, thousands of miles south of Sol stood an obsedian hedgehog with red markings on his body. He faced the dark canyons, arms akimbo, deep in his own thoughts of haunting memories and goals of ultimate power.

"Standing here in a dark place all by yourself, like the little emo you are!" called a familiar, snide voice, "I had a feeling I'd find you here!"

Shadow grunted, his position remained unchanged. "What do you want, faker?"

"What I _want_ is my girlfriend back," Sonic replied as he made his way towards the black hedgehog, "But in order for that to happen..." He sighed. This was gonna be hard to admit, "...I need your help."

The side of Shadow's mouth twisted up slightly. "You're asking me to help you?" he chortled as he turned his face slightly to eye Sonic, "And why would I want to do that?"

Sonic narrowed his eyes. "Look Shadow, this should be flattering enough for your ego," he murmured, "You're the only hope that I have to find Blaze... Silver went rogue and kidnapped her, along with the Jeweled Scepter and the Chaos Sol we own. I can't do a Chaos Control without an emerald, but _you_ can. If you can find out where the Chaos Sol is, you can take us to where Silver is so we can stop him!"

Shadow grunted. "And what do I benefit if I decide to go along?"

Sonic twitched his nose. "How about the warm, fuzzy feeling, knowing that you helped someone today?"

"Hmph!" Shadow turned away, arms still crossed, "Not interested."

Sonic was at his wit's end. "Okay, fine! What do you want??"

A small chuckle emitted from Shadow as he slowly twisted back. "You know what I want..."

And Sonic knew it too. "No way!"

"Well then, I guess you'll have to kiss your girlfriend goodbye for good."

Sonic's fists shook, trying to think of another answer, but he saw no other way around it. "Fine!" he muttered, "You can have the Chaos Sol when we find it."

Shadow turned around fully and stepped towards Sonic. "Deal," he smirked, "You drive a hard bargain..."

Sonic snarled. "Just shut up and find the emerald."

Shadow closed his eyes and concentrated hard, trying to pick up on any trace of chaos energy. He turned slightly to the side, facing the direction of Sol Kingdom. "Straight ahead, in the mountains. They weren't too far from you, blue hedgehog."

"Wouldn't have known that without you," said Sonic as he took a hold of Shadow's arm. "Thanks..."

Shadow gave no reply, other than "_Chaos Control!"_

* * *

She may have gained more power, but erasing Blaze's memories was going to be longer and tedious than Juilana would have preferred. She was going to have to wipe clean her entire short-term memory before moving onto long-term, which in itself would take practically forever. Every day of her life took exactly one minute to wipe clean. At this rate, this whole job would take up to four days... Oh well, she'll have the rest of her long life to rule Sol, before eventually moving to on the entire world.

And with Silver at her side now, nothing was going to get in her way.

Speaking of which, Silver sat below the platform on the ground, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious... even though he wasn't fully paying attention. His mind was elsewhere.

The soldier deep inside him was yelling at him to get up and stop all this... but his head would remind him that if Blaze found out, she'd never forgive him. He could barely stand the fact that she was dating that obnoxious blue "hero of the world" and flaunted it all over the castle... he couldn't even begin to think about Blaze hating him forever.

... but he did deserve it.

Blaze was right. He _was_ naive, and certainly stupid enough to be fooled by this corrupted sorceress.

But what's done was done... If he stopped now, Blaze would hate him.

... but if he went through with the whole thing, in a way, he was still losing her...

He shut out the voices in his head and continued to try and convince himself that this was the only way.

Even IF he continued to doubt himself.

* * *

A bright white light flashed in the entrance way, which was hidden securely from the outside world. As the light died down, two hedgehogs appeared in place. Sonic looked around, astonished. "Whoa..." he uttered, "I never knew this was here. Kinda scary when you think about what other evils were hiding just around the corner."

The prince of Mobodoon started ahead. "Come on, Shadow, this way!" he called, "We gotta find Silver and save Blaze!"

He only received a scoff in response. "The boy is _your_ problem, not mine," he said, "I'm only interested in finding the Chaos Sol."

"What?? Wait!"

Before Sonic could stop him, Shadow was suddenly gone in a flash. The hedgehog groaned, then shook his head. He could do this alone anyway. All he really needed from him was just a ride here.

Right now, there were more important things at hand. He raced down the entrance tunnel in hopes of finding Silver and Blaze.

* * *

Juilana glanced up fiercely, after feeling the same chaotic energy nearby. Someone else had teleported here. She glared down at Silver, who had looked up himself, having felt the same energy.

"Silver, we have company!" she shouted down to him, "Take care of them while I work on Blaze!"

Silver tightened his fists. Even though he was wondering if this whole thing was right or not, he still didn't want anybody to come in and stopping this. But who else could get into Juilana's lair? Other than...

Sonic blasted in the room, screeching to a halt as he saw Juilana hover over Blaze, laying on a stone bed, as the woman waved the Jeweled Scepter over her body. He pointed harshly at her, "Hey! _Knock it off!_ Leave her alone, lady!!" Clearly being ignored, Sonic revved his feet and made a mad dash towards her...

Only to be frozen in a telekinetic power and thrown backwards. He quickly rolled back onto his feet and stood up to face Silver, his palm extended, standing in the blue hedgehog's way.

"Sorry, Sonic," he growled, "But I can't let you through..."

* * *

**A/N: **Only one chapter left... two if I decide to split the epilogue by itself.

Regardless, it's almost finished. Will Blaze lose her entire memory?? Is Silver really going to go through with Juilana's plot, or will he come to his senses?? What purpose does Shadow REALLY serve in this story??

Drama...


	6. Chapter 6

Sonic stepped back, dropping into a stance. "Get out of my way, Silver," he growled, "I'm not in the mood to deal with you!"

"Why not?" Silver responded, his own tone as dark and serious as Sonic's, "So you can step in and play the big-shot hero you always are? Save the day, rat me out, and completely ruin my life like you have for the _past year?!"_

"You brought this all on yourself, pal! When you turned your back on your kingdom by stealing the Jeweled Scepter, AND Blaze!"

"It's all _your__ fault!!" _Silver nearly screamed, "_YOU_ stole Blaze from me!! You stole _everything_ from me when you merged your stupid world into ours! Now I'm going to fix it all!" He lifted himself into the air, "Starting with YOU!!"

He threw his arm forward, blasting a psychic blast at the blue hedgehog, who managed to jump to the side in time. Sonic raced all around the room, missing a few blasts aimed at him by miles, while just narrowly avoiding many others. With Silver levitating in the air, he had a better aim and couldn't give Sonic any chance to even think of a counter attack.

"This has nothing to do with us, Silver!" Sonic shouted over as he ducked one blast after another, "This is about Blaze! Don't you realize what you're doing to her??"

Silver stopped his attacks for a moment to answer, "I'm making it so that she realizes I'm her true love!!"

That moment was all Sonic needed to blast into a spin, roll up the wall, and hop off, landing a homing attack into Silver's back. He crashed hard on his stomach on the cold ground as Sonic landed nearby flat on his feet. "Don't you think that sort of thing is up to her to decide?"

Silver slowly raised himself up to his arms as he glared up at the blue hedgehog. "If you had never entered the picture, she would've chosen me!"

Sonic crossed his arms and twitched his nose. "And you know this, _how?_" he asked, "No offense, but I don't think whiny little traitors are her type."

Silver grit his teeth, his psychokinesis flowing throughout his body, and **WHAM! **He suddenly lurched up and body slammed into Sonic, knocking him flat on his back. "I was her best friend," he snarled, "I've known her all her life! You?? You're just a piece of meat that strolled by one day and took her from me! How can you possibly have a greater connection with her than I do?!"

"If you're as great as you say you are..." Sonic grunted as he sat back up, "then stop all this before anymore damage is done!"

Silver shook his head hard. "I can't do that!"

"Why not?? Her life is at stake!!"

"No! Just her..." Silver trailed off slightly. Sonic almost had a point. "... Just her memories."

"What..?"

"Her memories are being erased, so that she never has to remember ever meeting you!"

"What about Sol??" Sonic exclaimed.

The soldier looked away, "She won't remember being princess either... She won't remember anything." He glared back up. "But this is for the best!"

"What?!" Sonic was losing his patience with the other hedgehog, "How can you possibly think that?? Without her, Sol will be wide-open for anyone to take!"

"Juilana will take over, and I'm taking Blaze somewhere far away from here!"

"Do you ever stop to think?!" Sonic shouted, "What could possibly possess you to think this is a good idea?! You've got some nerve calling yourself a soldier..."

Silver growled ferociously. "_SHUT UP!!"_ he screamed, "What do you know??"

"I know Blaze wouldn't approve."

That did it. "BASTARD!!" He thrust his palms forwards, telekinetically sending Sonic crashing into the wall. He quickly managed to pull himself out before the silver hedgehog could throw another psychic attack at him. As he raced to the other side of the room, Silver mentally grabbed plaques, decors, and most other of Juilana's belongings and hurled them at the prince, who dashed and ducked each object.

Meanwhile, high above on the platform, Juilana was momentarily distracted, hearing her walls clatter and her items smash apart. She snarled and concentrated on her work on Blaze. 'Once this is over, I'm going to stuff that mental-powered hedgehog and make him my new decoration for all he's broken below!'

"I know her better than you ever could!" Silver shouted to Sonic as they continued to battle, "You've got _yourself_ a nerve claiming you love her more than I do!!"

Sonic dove to the ground, just missing a large table that the telekinesis that thrown at him. "Ever hear the phrase 'If you love them, let them go'?"

Silver sneered, "That's just some polite way of saying 'They don't like you, get over it!!'"

At that, he froze, realizing what he'd just said. It was as if he struck himself in the heart with a knife.

Sonic noticed the look on Silver's face. It looked as if he was finally getting it through. "Silver, come on...!" he pleaded, "You know this is wrong, why are you doing this? Did you even _see_ the look on her face when she saw you with the scepter?"

He did... and he saw the hurt in her eyes when she forced herself to attack him.

"Silver..." Sonic continued, "if you _do_ love her, you won't let any of this happen to her."

Silver looked down to the ground, lowering his arms, but his fists remained clenched. "...I do love her..." he muttered, before suddenly glaring back up, "So how could she treat me like this??"

Sonic blinked. "Huh?"

"We were best friends as children. When she was shunned, I befriended her. I looked out for her! Then she was taken away, forced to abandon her childhood to be the next ruler of Sol. I sacrificed my OWN childhood so that I could serve by her side! I did everything I could to make her happy, I tried to get her to loosen up, and let her know she wasn't alone in all this. But what did she say? 'Silver, you're so naive!' or 'Silver, don't be so childish!'"

The hedgehog's fists tightened, "I did all I could, and _she shunned me!_ And now, all the sudden she finds someone else out of nowhere, and I'm just some soldier to boss around??" He growled and shut his eyes tightly, "How could she do this to me?? _Why won't she respect me?!_ _**Why doesn't she love me?!"**_

There was a tense silence, as Sonic stared at Silver, surprised at his outburst, as the other hedgehog shook with rage, before finally slumping forward, dropping his defense, hanging his head, and tears streamed from his eyes. "She doesn't even care if I'm alive anymore..."

He was wrong all along, he was defeated, and he knew it. He just stood there, waiting for Sonic to make a snarky remark or take him down for good, but was shocked when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He glanced up to see Sonic looking down at him, almost in a friendly-like matter. "Silver..." he spoke, "You know that's not true." He gave a small smile. "You'd be surprised at how highly she talks about you. She's always saying just how great you are, and even at times how I can never measure up to you."

"She... does?" Silver meekly asked.

Sonic nodded. "You've always been her go-to guy, her confederate... but more importantly, her best friend... and that's something in her heart that I can never take place of."

Silver looked away once again. "Not anymore..." he murmured, "Not after everything that's happened..." He buried his face into his palms, "Oh God, what've I done??"

Sonic placed both hands on his shoulders. "It's not too late, Silver," he said, "We can still save her!"

Silver snapped his head up. _We??_ He's still thinking of playing hero?? And what was _he_, sidekick for the day?? Most likely he already blames him for getting Blaze in this situation to begin with!

No...! He can't let his mind go this direction! Blaze was the top priority... and he was going to do his duty!

Sonic noticed the tense look growing on Silver, as well as the bluish-green energy growing in his hands. Was it something he said...?

With a flash, Silver threw his massive energy attack…..

…. striking Juilana dead on and knocking her over, ceasing the magic being done on Blaze. "What the--?!" the sorceress glared around, sprawled on the floor, trying to find an answer. She made her way over to the edge of the platform and saw exactly who hit her. "You..!"

"Get away from her," Silver growled.

"Silver! You _traitor!!"_

The hedgehog narrowed his eyes, "Not anymore..."

"I knew you'd be a nuisance! If you turned your back on your princess, I shouldn't be surprised you'd turn your back on me! I should've done _this_ to begin with!!" Juilana lifted herself in the air, the Jeweled Scepter grasped tightly in her hand, and shot a blast at the hedgehogs, who dived in opposite directions. Silver levitated up, and shot himself at the sorceress, throwing a psychic wave in her direction. She defended herself by spiraling the scepter in a circle, disintegrating the wave, and went on to counter-attack.

Meanwhile, Sonic made his way up the platform and to the stone bed where Blaze laid, still unconscious. He took her shoulders and shook her lightly. "Blaze, wake up! Come on!" he called, "Don't let that witch take you down without a fight!"

It was no good. Blaze was still out of it. He was going to have to take drastic measures...

He unbuckled his shoe and ripped off his sock, rolled it into a ball, and held it under her nose. It wasn't long before Blaze's eyes snapped open and she smacked the hedgehog's hand away.

"Eyuch!!" she gagged, "Gross! I _hate it_ when you do that! Why can't you just _shake_ me awake next time??" She then blinked, realizing her surroundings. "Wha...? What's going? Where are we?"

"Long story," Sonic responded.

**SMASH**

Silver just narrowly avoided a massive earth attack into the ground, leaping in the air in time. Juilana looked up, watching as he soared over her, and looked back upon noticing the other hedgehog by Blaze, who was sitting upwards, wide awake. "_No!"_ she screeched, pointing the scepter at the two and shot an explosive chaos attack at the two.

"Look out!" cried Blaze as she grabbed Sonic, who grabbed her in return, the two trying to shield one other from the oncoming blast. They sat in that position for awhile, until they noticed nothing was hitting them. They cautiously peered up, and saw the chaotic blast just inches away, caught in a wave of telekinesis. Blaze recognized this power. "Silver!!"

Juilana glared over at the hedgehog, who had caught the blast and was pulling it back, aiming it at the sorceress, who flew out of its way as it left its devastating mark on the ground. Once she was in the air, Silver shot over to her and grabbed the scepter, trying to pry it from her hands. They floated from one side to the other, struggling over control of the scepter, until they reached the ground, which Juilana had the advantage for her size.

"Are you sure you want to be doing this?" she hissed at the hedgehog as they continued to struggle, "You know what will happen to you if you stop me now."

"I know what'll happen..." Silver grunted, "And I accept it! I should've never listened to a rotten witch like you! I deserve everything I've got coming to me! But right now... all that matters is that I serve Sol and its princess. And that means putting an end to you and your plans!"

Juilana didn't like that answer, and powered an attack in her hands. "DIE!!" she shouted as she blasted into Silver, throwing him backwards onto the ground. She approached him, holding her hand up and retracting her fingernails into sharp claws, ready to slash the hedgehog into shish kabob.

"NO!"

Before she was given that chance, a fireball struck her in the side, knocking her over several feet. Silver glanced up, surprised to see that Blaze had just protected him, and even more so to see Sonic zip up suddenly in front of him, offering his hand. He slowly nodded his thanks, and accepted the help back to his feet.

Blaze leapt from the platform and landed by the boys. "Juilana!" she shouted, pointing a finger to the sorceress, "You were banished from Sol decades ago! I don't know what you were doing to me, but you will now pay severely for invading my kingdom and stealing the Jeweled Scepter!"

Silver glanced over at the cat. Didn't she know...?

Juilana snarled as she patted the last of her flames off her dress. "Pathetic little princess! You call that fire?? I'll show you _real_ heat!!" she rose the scepter and blasted a blast of fire at the three animals. Blaze created a wall of fire to protect everyone from the attack, which poured harder. Sonic dashed to the side and began to race circles around Juilana, until the fire coming from the scepter was snuffed out. Juilana was slightly stunned at the rapid wind that blew out her own flames and couldn't react in time as Silver jetted in and delivered a massive punch in her face, knocking her down.

"That was for knocking me into the wall on our first battle," he sneered.

Juilana leapt back to her feet and before Sonic and Blaze could catch her, she was off in the air once again, going after Silver.

"Silver, you ok??" Sonic called up.

"Stay back!" the silver-furred hedgehog ordered, "She's mine!"

Blaze watched below as the battle unfolded. She didn't know what exactly Silver had against the sorceress, but she understood that this was clearly his battle.

Silver made a dash towards Juilana, only to be blown back as she used the scepter to send forth a blast of wind. He tried heading towards her again, this time, held up his hand to paralyze her. Juilana froze for a moment, but suddenly thrust free of his hold, which stunned Silver's body slightly. "Foolish boy!" she snided, "With the Jeweled Scepter, my power has increased a _hundred-fold!_ You have no hope of defeating me!"

The scepter..! Silver looked over to where Juilana was grasping it tightly. He had to get the scepter away from her. It was the only way he could manage to beat her. He held out his palm again, only this time aimed his pyschokinesis on Juilana's hand and the scepter. The sorceress felt intense pressure in her hand, but before she could instinctually drop the scepter, she grabbed it with both hands and used it to throw a psycho-blast into Silver, sending him into the wall. His powers died out, and he did what he could to hold himself up in the imprint he had made. He had used too much of his telekinesis during the fight, and it was beginning to take its toll on his body.

"You don't listen very well, do you?" Juilana sneered as she floated closer to the hedgehog, ready to give the final hit.

"No! _Silver!!" _Blaze cried, feeling helpless down on the ground.

Sonic glanced around himself. There had to be something they could do, even if Silver wanted to go at it alone. He wasn't going to make it if they didn't intervene. He then noticed the tall platform that Juilana had Blaze on earlier. He grabbed the cat's wrist and raced his way up the platform. "Blaze, I'm gonna need a boost!"

Silver was in a pinch. He didn't have enough energy to catch himself if he dropped straight to the ground, but if he stayed put, Juilana would kill him. The sorceress was now only away, pointing the orb of the scepter at him. "Farewell, friend," she chuckled, "Thank you for all your help."

Sonic gave himself a running start and dashed towards Blaze, jumped into her outstretched hand, and she tossed him into the air towards Juilana. As she powered up a massive energy ball aimed at the silver-furred hedgehog, a blue ball shot in and suddenly struck her in the back, knocking her off balance, and causing the blast to instead strike the roof. Her guard was down, and she was momentarily distracted. Silver took advantage of this and used whatever power he had left to throw a telekinetic blast into Juilana's hand, knocking the scepter out of her hand and down below to where Sonic had landed.

That move caused Silver to slip from his imprint and he fell several hundred feet to the ground below. He only managed to slow down his fall with his psychokinesis before landing hard on his stomach. It nearly knocked the wind out of him, and he struggled to push himself up to his arms, gasping for breath.

"Idiot..!"

The hedgehog glared up to see Juilana float down to the ground where Silver laid, eyeing him coldly, and holding her palm up at him. "Scepter or not, I still have the power to destroy you!"

If only he had a minute to catch his breath and build up his energy...

"Hyahh!!"

Juilana turned to see that annoying blue hedgehog leap at her, the Jeweled Scepter high above his head, ready to club her with it.

**CLAAAANG**

The sorceress had effortlessly caught the end of the scepter, which stunned Sonic with a hard vibration. "Really boy," she mused, "You shouldn't use the scepter if you have no clue how." Before Sonic could get his bearings straight, Juilana shot her hand up and snagged him around the neck, squeezing tightly. She let loose a laugh. "Look, Silver! Looks like Blaze is going to available after all, after I strangle this rodent. How do you like that?"

"Kya!!"

Silver apparently didn't like it. He had just paralyzed Juilana, and made her drop Sonic to the ground. He fell to his knees and gasped for air. Silver then threw his palm forward, which knocked the sorceress and the scepter to the ground, skidding several feet on the ground.

Once she stopped, Juilana raised her head to see the Jeweled Scepter was just an arm's length away. Just as she reached over to grab it, it was suddenly surrounded by a bluish-green energy and pulled away from her grasp. She whipped around to see the scepter fly into Silver's hand.

"Lucky for _me_, I know how to use the scepter now."

Deranged, Juilana climbed back to her feet and made a mad dash towards Silver, who held the scepter forward and froze Juilana in her tracks. The sorceress was stunned; she was actually _powerless_ against this childish hedgehog! Silver then swiped the scepter in the air, which sent a wind effect into the woman and slammed her into the wall.

Juilana lifted her head weakly to see Sonic join Silver's side and Blaze running over to rejoin the boys. "You...!" she growled, "I'll destroy you all!!" She raised her arms and emitted a dark energy blade, and hurled it at the three. This was nothing to Silver as he easily caught the blade telekinetically and threw it right back at the sorceress, striking her in the chest.

The woman gasped for air, clutching her chest as the energy blade faded and she fell to her knees. She looked up weakly at the silver-furred hedgehog, who glared daggers back at her. "You're... you're not going to kill me..." she breathed, "...are you?"

Silver shook his head. "No..." he looked back down at her, "But I am getting rid of you."

"What... what are you... going to do...?"

Silver reached into his glove and pulled out a gray emerald. "I'm sending you somewhere where you'll never be a threat to Sol again."

Juilana's eyes grew wide. "A... Chaos Sol?!"

In the sidelines, Shadow was hiding in his namesake. Having no luck finding the gem, he had ducked out of sight and watched the entire battled played out. "Hmph... So he had it on him the whole time..."

Silver gave Juilana a devilish smirk of his own. "How else did you think I got here?"

"Where are you sending me?!"

"I don't know. Let's find out, shall we?" Silver tossed the Chaos Sol into the air. "_Chaos Control!!"_

The emerald twirled in mid-air as the Chaos Control activated, and a dark vortex began to form. It created a black-hole effect and began to suck everything inside. Shadow clung to the wall, though his expression remained unchanged. Sonic and Blaze grabbed each other, trying to anchor themselves, but were suddenly covered with a telekinetic power. Silver was holding them all down. Juilana clawed at the floor, trying to keep from going in the vortex. She used her own power to pull herself away and tried to fly out of the room.

"Oh no you don't!" Silver pointed the Jeweled Scepter at Juilana and grabbed her telekinetically through it, and lifted her into the air.

"Please! STOP!!" Juilana screamed, "I'll do anything!! Anything you want!!"

"Sorry," Silver grunted, "Not going to work this time. HYA!!" He swished the scepter to the side, which sent Juilana soaring straight into the vortex.

"_**Nooooooo...!!"**_

__Juilana was gone. The vortex died down. Silver finally released his telekinetic hold, and fell to his knees, exhausted after using so much power. Sonic and Blaze raced over to his side. "Silver, you did it!" Blaze exclaimed proudly.

Silver glanced up at Blaze as he breathed heavily, and gave her a weak smile and a thumbs-up.

Once the vortex was done, the emerald continued to spin, and finally dropped to the ground.

**SHOOM!**

The three snapped their heads up as a black streak soared over their heads and grabbed the emerald before it hit the ground. He landed on a knee just in front of the group. "Shadow?!"

The black hedgehog rose to his feet, glancing back and smirking. "Thanks for the Chaos Sol, Sonic," he grinned, tossing the emerald up and down in his hand, "I look forward to our next business deal. Farewell!"

"Shadow, get back here!!" Sonic shouted as he gave chase.

"_Chaos Control!"_

Just before Sonic could grab him, Shadow was gone in a flash, and the blue hedgehog nearly toppled over on his face. "Damn it..." he muttered, "I am _not_ having any luck with Chaos Control today..."

Silver approached him with an irritated face. "Sonic..." he said almost threateningly, "What does he mean by 'business deal'??"

Sonic turned around casually. "Oh not much..." he said, placing his hands behind his head, "Just that I promised him our Chaos Sol if he helped me."

"WHAT??" Silver yelped, "You idiot!!"

Sonic chuckled slightly. "Hey, relax, we'll get it back."

Silver didn't relax. He was almost the exact opposite. "Don't you realize the predicament this puts us in??"

"Speaking of predicaments..."

The hedgehogs turned to face Blaze, who scratched her head and looked slightly lost. "Will one of you guys be so kind as to explain just _what_ is going on here??"

Sonic grinned widely and in response, raced over to Blaze and grabbed her around the waist, swinging her around as he hugged her tight. Blaze was even more confused, but she returned the hug. "Now I'm really curious as to what happened..."

"It's a long story," Sonic responded as he pulled back and looked into her beautiful golden eyes, "Best told over a late night dinner, just you, and me..." He glanced over, and glowered at the sight of Silver, his head down, looking away, clearly crushed at the romantic scene. "... And Silver, of course!"

Silver raised his head, his crushed expression replaced with confusion. "Wha...?"

"I mean, we couldn't have saved you without him," Sonic grinned, "He's the real hero today."

Silver looked away again, this time, in shame.

Blaze nodded and smiled, "Well in that case," she turned to the telekinetic, "Silver, we would love for you to join us in a celebration dinner."

"…Okay…"


	7. Epilogue

"It was amazing, Blaze! You should've seen him!" Sonic said excitedly, while trying to shovel as much of the salmon meal into his mouth as he spoke.

He, Blaze, and Silver were in Blaze's personal dining area, feasting on salmon and various side dishes, as they discussed that night's events...

... All but Silver, who just sat glumly at the table, cheek in his palm, pushing his food from one side of the plate to the other, meshing it all into one big pile of gray blob. Sonic had explained everything to Blaze... except for the fact that it was Silver that stole the Jeweled Scepter and took it to Juilana. He instead embellished the truth to make the soldier of Sol innocent.

"He was totally on top of things!" Sonic continued as Blaze listened intently, "If only you were awake in time to see the big show down start! He was not about to let that woman get away with you."

Silver sighed silently, wondering if Sonic was really trying to cover for him, or just torturing him with these false facts of what had really happened.

"What about you?" Blaze asked Sonic, "Why did you ask Shadow to help if you knew Silver was on it?"

Sonic glanced over at Silver, who didn't even look up, continuing to play with his food. The blue hedgehog gave a simple shrug. "Guess I wanted to make myself look good. I offered the Chaos Sol if he helped me get to Juilana before Silver did, and be your 'knight in shining armor'." He gave a shy grin, "I am suppose to be the hero, right?"

Blaze rolled her eyes. "Next time, get your head straight," she scoffed, "Duty comes before affection, right Silver?"

The silver-furred hedgehog nearly dropped his fork into his food pile. "Uh... right..."

Blaze raised an eyebrow. "Are you okay?" she asked, "You barely touched your dinner."

"Oh..." Silver's eyes darted away from her, "I'm just not real hungry, I guess..."

Blaze frowned, looking concerned. Sonic gave a hearty smile. "He's just tired from all that adventuring we did, right buddy?" He gave Silver a wink, but the telekinetic wasn't in the mood to be hearty back at him.

"... Yea..."

"Well, I'm impressed with you both," Blaze announced, "Especially you, Silver." She reached over and placed her hand over his. "Perhaps a promotion in rank is called for."

At that, Silver jolted up suddenly. "No, please!" he cried, "Don't!!"

Blaze and Sonic were taken back slightly. "Silver, what's the matter?" asked the Sol princess.

Silver eased back down. "I'm sorry..." he spoke, "I... I just don't deserve it."

"There's no reason to be so modest," Blaze smiled, "You personally defeated Juilana, a lesser-known yet fierce enemy of Sol. I've never been prouder of you."

Silver cringed, looking away even more in shame. "Blaze..." he uttered, "There's something I have to tell you...I..." He turned to looked at her, but couldn't look her in the face, and looked back to his food, "I... Iiiiiii... need to talk to you privately!"

Blaze blinked, once again growing concerned. "Oh... very well," she said and rose from her seat, "Sonic, please excuse us for a moment."

The blue hedgehog nodded, looking over to Silver in pity. Silver looked back at him as he held the door open for Blaze, almost as if to say "thanks anyway", then left, closing the door after himself.

Sonic sighed, feeling bad for the soldier, hoping things would be all right... then eyed the mush pile on Silver's plate. Glancing back to make sure they weren't suddenly returning, he reached over, grabbed the plate, and scrapped the pile onto his own plate, and immediately dug in.

* * *

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" Blaze asked once she and Silver were outside on a balcony.

Silver approached the rails and leaned against them, looking down at the Kingdom of Sol from above. "Blaze..." he spoke, "You really have no memory of what happened?"

Blaze scratched her head as she tried to think back. "I can only remember up to a few weeks ago," she responded, "But everything between then and now is completely blank." She smiled over at her friend, "I'm lucky you and Sonic found me in time, before I ended up losing everything."

"Yeah, about that..." Silver turned and looked to the ground. He still couldn't face the princess. "Sonic was just being nice and trying to spare me with all he told you. But actually, Juilana making it past the perimeters, her getting the scepter and nearly taking your whole memory..." He took a deep breath. It was time to face the music. "... It was all because of me."

Blaze's eyes widened and she made a soft gasp. "What? How?"

"I wasn't paying attention at my post, and she slipped by me. I tried to stop her, but I wasn't strong enough..." Silver took another deep breath, trying to collect himself. No need to blurt everything out all at once.

Blaze's face softened. "Is that all?" she said forgivingly.

"No..." Silver shook his head, "That's not even half of it. I bumped into Juilana later in the courtyard. She said that she could help me with my problem if she had the Jeweled Scepter. Blaze..." For the first time that night, he finally looked her in the eyes, "_I_ stole the scepter and gave it to Juilana!"

Blaze was taken back at this. "What??" she cried, "You?!"

"Yes..." Silver turned away again, "And on a whim, I knocked you out, took the Chaos Sol, and warped us to Juilana's lair. I knew it was wrong, but I did it anyway! That's why I don't deserve a promotion... Hell I don't even deserve to be a _soldier!!" _The hedgehog grasped onto the railings, "I don't even deserve to be your friend..."

There was a tense silence between them. Silver dared not to look back at her. He didn't feel worthy enough.

Finally, Blaze broke the silence. "Why did you do it?"

Silver shook his head once again. "It's too stupid... I can't--"

"Yes you can, and yes you will!" Blaze demanded, "It shouldn't be _that_ stupid, if you're willing to commit _treason_ over it."

Silver clenched his eyes and his fists. "Because... because I... I..."

"What?? _Tell me!"_

"Because I love you, okay?!"

Blaze was once again taken back. Her eyes went wide, and she didn't know how to answer.

"I've... always loved you..." Silver continued, "I just didn't know it until you were already in love with Sonic." He rested his hand on the railing, "Juilana told me that with the scepter, she'd make it so that, well... _we'd_ have a chance...

"I should've never listened to her!" he raised his voice, "I should've known she was up to no good! And because of me, I almost lost both you _and_ the whole kingdom!" He began pacing a few steps as he went on, "I don't know what I was thinking! I don't think I was thinking! But that's no excuse! It was completely selfish of me! And just so... STUPID of me!!" He turned and slammed his fists onto the railing, "And I... I..."

His emotions were catching up, as his voice quivered and tears ran down his cheeks. "... I'm just so sorry..."

He wiped his eyes with his arms and slightly turned his head, trying to see Blaze out of the corner of his eye. From what he could tell, she was still standing there, shocked at the confession, and still very much silent. He sighed, turned back, and made his way around her without trying to face her. "I'll gather my things and leave first thing in the morning..."

As he headed towards the door, his arm was suddenly latched by a hand. "Don't go."

Silver blinked, and turned to see Blaze holding onto him. As she turned to face him, she lightly pulled his arm to turn him around as well. "Silver..." she said. The hedgehog lowered his head, expecting the lecture of all lectures, or for her to get off her chest just how angry and disappointed she was in him. But he certainly did not expect this; "I'm sorry."

Silver blinked some more. "Wh... what?"

Blaze lowered her head. "If I had known how you felt, I would've been more considerate of your feelings."

"Aw, Blaze, no," Silver waved his hands, "None of this is your fault. _**I**_ was the one who--"

"Shh..." Blaze placed a finger on his lips, "No, you _shouldn't_ have made a deal with Juilana, and yes, you _should've_ had better judgment!"

Silver looked away in shame, only to have Blaze lightly cup his cheek and turn him back to face her. "But what you just did right now only proves that I made the right choice making you a soldier."

The hedgehog was now confused. "Huh?? But Blaze, all I've done--"

"You could've kept quiet on the whole thing, and I would've never known," said Blaze, "It took a lot of courage and wisdom to come forward and confess like a man. Because of this, I know that I can still trust you."

Silver didn't know what to say and glanced downwards. He was touched, but he wasn't sure if he still deserved it. Blaze could read it in his face. "You're so naive..." she murmured. Silver glared up at her, but his face lightened when he saw a smile across her face. Very rarely did he manage to get the feline to smile.

"Listen," Blaze continued, "I'm in love with Sonic..." She then took her silver-furred friend by the hand, "But my love for you will _always_ be deeper and meaningful. When I was shunned, you befriended me. You took care of me like a brother always should. You are my brother Silver... and my best friend. And nothing, not even a terrible mistake, will ever change that." She then took his other hand and clasped them together. "All I ask is that you continue to stay by my side. Please...!"

Tears rolled down Silver's cheek once again, and he raised her hands up to his lips. "Always..."

Blaze smiled deeply, her own eyes glazing a bit. "Thank you..." She leaned in and planted a soft kiss on his cheek. She then pulled back and gave a soft chuckle. "Come on. Let's head back inside and finish dinner, before Sonic eats _our_ share."

She headed to the door and opened it, looking back to see Silver still standing there, lost in thoughts. "You coming?"

"Oh... yeah," Silver responded, "I just need a minute."

Blaze smiled and nodded before heading inside, leaving the hedgehog alone to stare into the sky, counting his blessings. If he couldn't be with Blaze, he was lucky to at least still have her in his life.

Sometimes, there's a personal struggle between love and loyalty.

Lucky for Silver, he had the best of both worlds.

THE END.

* * *

And NOW it's the end. XD I was getting a few reviews saying "Great ending!" and I'm over here thinking "I ain't done yet!" ;

The last line is a double entendre. Not only does Silver love AND is loyal to Blaze (as she is to him, clearly), but this fic has a bit of "both worlds" hopefully... A SilvAze story that **didn't** end with SilvAze, but still leaves that warm, fuzzy feeling inside you...

... assuming that it's not from wanting to puke because you hate every bit of trace of SilvAze. :P

Okay, my next fic of the summer stars hedgehog #3: Shadow! Only this time, I'm steering clear of my "own" Sonicverse. This fic, ladies and gents, is actually going to be a **SatAM** fanfic. Can ya believe it? ME?! SatAM?!

Hey it's not THAT bad. :P

Anyway, thanks for reading and sticking with me. I hope you'll enjoy the next one. ;)


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